1. So it would seem that summer has arrived in Phoenix. Spring was about 2 weeks long and now we are back in the 90’s. The nights are still cool enough that I can turn the air conditioner off during the night and morning, but by 1pm it’s pushing 83 in here and I just don’t do 83 degrees inside. The nice thing about summer is the end to allergy season. Since my youngest two kids have terrible allergies, I have actually begun to look forward to the first few days of 100 degrees with anticipation. We go through allergy medicine like you wouldn’t believe around here.
When this stuff goes on sale, I buy multiple boxes of it.I think the last time it was on sale was January or February and I bought 3 boxes (That is six bottles, each with 8 ounces.) And I just opened the last bottle this weekend. So COME ON, 100!
2. With the warmer nights we (my husband, actually) planted some grass and flowers, so maybe we will have a yard to look out the window at during the blazing summer, or to see from the pool. In the mean time, the kids can’t play in the backyard because it is all muddy and they would kill the baby grass. Add in the above craziness-inducing allergies, and they are bouncing off the walls! I probably shouldn’t complain since half the country was stuck inside all winter while we were out hiking, playing in the grass, and riding bikes, (and sneezing!) But this is tough! I want to kick them all outside, but I’m way too lazy to drive them to a park. It’s all for the sake of the grass.
3. I gave myself a little challenge. And I am burying it here in the middle in hopes that you have already gotten bored and quit reading. Last year I tried this, with some success. Instead of setting a goal for myself of a certain number of pounds to lose or whatnot, I selected a number of days – 52 in this case, and will just try to follow a set of guidelines each day for those days. This will take me from April 10 until the end of May. I’m not saying I will quit these guidelines for healthy living at the end of May, just that I can’t stand the idea of making a decision for my whole life. But I can do this for 52 days. I just wanted to post about it since I am sure it will affect my writing – I seem to lose weight in my brain first. You can follow my journey if you want at Mommy’s Diet.
4. My Lenten Failures: We were going to do Ann Voskamp’s “The Trail to the Tree” devotional again, since the kids enjoyed it so much last year, but so far we have only done two of the readings. It’s a sad little display that only has two of the pictures hanging from it, mocking me day by day. We were going to all memorize the 23rd Psalm, but we stalled out after 2 verses. But I think most of us have made it to confession, so yay.
5. This whole moving thing is so overwhelming. Both Jay and I are kind of dragging our feet, not wanting to get the ball rolling. Dreading to leave our neighborhood and closeness to friends, but also knowing that to be really invested in our kids’ school, we can’t really live a 45 minute drive away. I think we will be making some more final decisions this weekend.
I think the most overwhelming part of it is the idea of fixing up our house. This house is well loved, friends. There is not a single place where we haven’t left our mark. I do believe that more than 50% of the drawers in the kitchen are fully broken. Jay fixes them and they are unfixed in half and hour. Everywhere I look these is just so much stuff to fix. For now we are just decluttering to the best of our ability while we figure out what to do.
6. This post has been really boring so far, it’s mostly me venting, so here are some gems from Molly, who at four and a half can make people outside the family think she never talks at all while those of us inside the family are wondering if we will go insane before she gets out of the “What If” phase. Most of her what ifs involve having the whole world or just certain parts of it be pink or rainbow, and ALWAYS with glitter AND sparkles. I dread the day when this child discovers jewelry.
She loves to draw, and the other day made this picture of Anna and Olaf, with no help whatsoever. As her biased mother, I think it is pretty good for a 4 year old.
She also drew a paper bag puppet that was an anatomically correct male.
(No pictures of that one!) We had a little discussion about what we should and should not draw, and I am reconsidering letting her be in the room when her little brother is in the bath.
In one of her non-stop stream of consciousness conversations, she asked me if newborn babies could talk. I told her that they had to learn to talk. Then she asked why they even had mouths if they couldn’t talk.
So you see, she is not the silent wall-flower that some may perceive. She has decided that there is not point in having a mouth if you can’t talk All. The. Time.
7. I told Gus the other day that I would take him to Target and buy him any toy he wanted if he would just POOP IN THE POTTY. He immediately said, “I will get a sword!”
The boy is two and a half and obsessed with his swords. He has two (mostly nerf type) swords right now, one we call the Knight Sword, since it is long and straight and looks like something a knight would carry. The other one is pirate sword, shorter and curved. Gus named the pirate sword his Morning Sword. Since the other one is for the night…
Molly likes to tell me with numbers just how much she loves me. She will tell me that she loves me twenty nine and a thousand and four and a million. She just comes up with what she thinks is the biggest number she can imagine. Gus will try to top her by saying something like he loves me nine and a hundred and a thousand and a sword.
Well, there are my quick takes for the week. Next week is Holy Week, which is super crazy for us, since my husband is in the choir and I am working with the RCIA, so I’m not sure if I will make it in to write. But I will try!
Go see Jen for some more Quick Takes!
MOVING???